Pirate Clipper
Volume 31 | Issue 3 | December 2021 | Platte County High School
Cheer Without Fear Page 15
02. Table of Contents
3.
Feature
Insta-Famous
Social media accounts focus on student struggles, accomplishments
By Connor Rhoads
4-5.
Inside the Making of the Book Yearbook staff tries to find balance between work, fun By Jackson Hamilton-Dubsky
6.
Life Lessons
Program teaches both students, teachers about world around them
10.
Opinion
14.
Sports
To Post or Not to Post
One Shot at a Time
By Jack Scattini
By Nevaeh Martin
What is acceptable to share on social media?
11.
Archery team prepares for current season
15.
To the Republic for Which it Stands
Cheer Without Fear
Students should not have to stand for pledge of allegiance
Cheerleaders reflect on hard work to prepare for competition season By Sage Nordike
By Nevaeh Martin
12-13.
Don’t Just Say No
Drug problem at school requires different approach By the Clipper staff
By Porter Schoen
7.
A December to Remember Various winter traditions celebrated by students, teachers By Connor Rhoads
8-9.
Year in Review
A summary of important events in 2021 By Ashlyn Basye
Staff
Staff Writers
Ashlyn Basye Elijah Bruley Jackson Hamilton-Dubsky Nevaeh Martin Connor Rhoads Jack Scattini
Editor-in-Chief Porter Schoen
Adviser
Kari Johnson
Special Thanks
PCHS Yearbook staff Sage Nordike
On the Cover
Wearing varsity football player Lane Webb’s jersey, junior Rae Antone is held in the air by her fellow cheerleaders during kickoff at the Black Out game against Lansing. The Pirates won the game 39-3.
Letters to the Editor
Letters to the editor are both accepted and encouraged, but certain guidelines must be followed if they are to be published. Letters can be no more than 300 words, and must not contain profanity or school-inappropriate topics. We reserve the right to refrain from publishing a letter for any reason. Written letters can be submitted to Kari Johnson in Room 23. Alternatively, letters can be emailed to 2023pas@stu.platteco.k12.mo.us or johnsonk@platteco.k12.mo.us. Please include “letter to the editor” in the subject line of your email.
About Us
The Pirate Clipper is a student-run newspaper dedicated to informing students on current issues without bias. Opinions and editorials do not reflect the views or opinions of the Platte County staff, school, administration or adviser. For questions or concerns, contact adviser Kari Johnson at: johnsonk@platteco.k12.mo.us.
03. December 2021
Insta-Famous
Social media accounts focus on student struggles, accomplishments
Ι
By Connor Rhoads
f you’re active on social media, you’ve no doubt heard about the student-owned PCHS accounts on Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter. This year specifically has seen an uptick in the number of accounts created, around 11. @pchs_parking_lot on Instagram has been up since Oct. 8 and has already reached over 800 followers. @sleeping.at.pchs on Instagram catches people sleeping in mostly a joking manner and has over 700 followers. @PchsAssassinn on Twitter has kids paying $5 to participate in a huge water gun fight for a large sum of money and currently also has over 600 followers.
On Instagram, @pchsbarstool shows the trash talking and victories of the football team and other sports and has more than 500 followers. Like many students, junior Zach Salfrank had his parking featured on the parking lot account. “I think it’s funny, but everyone clowns me for it,” Salfrank said. Students like to poke fun at other students in the comments of these posts, especially when it’s their friends being featured. “I think the accounts as a whole are really funny,” Salfrank said. “It’s catching a lot of people.”
This year’s Assassin winner was junior Carter Salzman. “I think it brings people closer together and opens doors for people you wouldn’t really interact with,” Salzman said. “We’ve seen a couple examples of it going too far which is unfortunate that some people can’t handle it.” These social media accounts get students to interact with each other and for the most part are very lighthearted. "I think the accounts put a smile on peoples' faces and makes them laugh," senior Sage Nordike said. "They're pretty funny, but they show up on my feed so much that I don't see many other posts."
Graphic by Connor Rhoads The @pchs_parking_lot Instagram page dedicated itself to improving student drivers' parking jobs by exposing those who struggled to park between the lines. This account was one of the most popular among students and staff.
Graphic by Connor Rhoads POinting out those who fall asleep in class, the @sleeping.at.pchs Instagram page posted pictures of dozing students. Some students have raised concerns about this page, claiming it could get those featured in trouble with their teachers.
Graphic by Connor Rhoads The @pchsbarstool Instagram page advertised Platte County sporting events and posted mainly about the football team. The account, despite being rarely updated, has around 550 followers.
04. Feature
Inside the Making of the Book Yearbook staff tries to find balance between work, fun By Jackson Hamilton-Dubsky and Jack Scattini
T
he high school has many clubs and organizations within it, and these activities contribute to the overall environment and experiences students have here, yet less than half of the high school’s students purchase yearbooks. “There are so many things in the school that I didn’t even know went on, and we get to cover all of that in yearbook, and that’s really cool,” sophomore Quentin Miller said. Many are probably aware of the yearbook class which works together to complete the yearbook, but if you are not someone who is involved in it, you probably don’t know what exactly they do to make it. “The production cycle consists of five weeks where we cover different weeks of the month. We take pictures, interview people and build ideas for pages, then we get into power groups where we build our articles,” junior and copy editor Lanna Albright said. Power groups are the first step of the editing process where small groups of staff members proofread copy while the person who wrote it reads it aloud. “[The obstacles that we run into are] procrastination; some photos we don’t
know who the people are; some people we can’t interview because they are absent or quarantined; when we are designing spreads it’s kind of hard because sometimes the spreads don’t fit easily,” senior and people editor Minna Arthurs said. Staff members must contend with personal struggles that threaten to interfere with meeting deadlines. “I am a known procrastinator, and that makes everything difficult,” Miller said. Sometimes creative problems also threaten to delay the production cycle. “Writing stories, too, I think is pretty hard because trying to find interesting and new topics and quotes is difficult,” Arthurs said. Interviews have been hard to get due to the amount of students quarantining. “It’s been hard in recent years with COVID getting interviews and getting info,” Albright said. “Kids are sometimes quarantined or there are limits on who can attend events. There also wasn’t much to report on with school primarily being online and not much going on.” Lots of time goes into making the yearbook, including weeks of in-class work,
Photo by Jackson Hamilton-Dubsky Editor and junior Natalie Shepherd accompined by editors and juniors Leah Albright and Lanna Albright explain the tight schedule to their staff members. The staff chose to organize the book chronologically again this year, so they cover a whole week’s worth of events on a spread.
interviews and taking photos. All of this effort comes together on yearbook’s monthly late nights. After all work is looked over and checked, it is placed on the pages using an online design program through a publisher. “Late nights are some of my favorite memories from the yearbook, we all get to hang out and work and sometimes play ‘Just Dance,’ at the end,” senior Ronette Reyes said. Reyes is not the only one whose favorite memories come from late nights.
Photo by Jackson Hamilton-Dubsky Junior Zoe Rodriguez Castro preps her camera to download photos. Photographers had to photograph events throughout the school day and occasionally traveled to different cities for playoff and state games.
Photo by Jackson Hamilton-Dubsky Sophomore Sam Ragone works on his Halloween story. Ragone partenered with senior Chloe Bramble on their spreads.
“Late nights are really fun; you get to hang out with everybody,” Arthurs said. “We do our work and have dance parties.” There was one thing they wanted people to know about the yearbook, much of the staff urged students to join the yearbook. Yearbook and newspaper students were planning to attend the National Journalism Convention in Philadelphia this year, but due to the pandemic, the national organization turned it into a virtual convention. Both groups took a trip down to North Kansas City to a collaborative workspace to tune into the convention resources such as keynote speakers and recorded presentations available to them. They ordered pizza and spent a lot of quality time with their staff. Yearbook is very much student-run and operated. All the articles and spreads are made with students. Adviser Kari Johnson provides an outline for them to cooperate with each other and fully have control of the design and theme. “One of my most important roles is just to be the adviser,” Johnson said. “I leave the decision making in the hands of my editors, so I don’t make any of the content decisions for either of my publications.” This leaves the members with a feeling of involvement and participation, and then they get to appreciate their work in a physical way they can keep forever. Many of the members urge anyone interested in joining to check it out. “I just wish more people joined Yearbook,” junior Katherine Schwan said. “It has provided me with fun and unique experiences, and my overall perspective on the school and community has changed greatly.”
05. December 2021
Photo by Jackson Hamiliton-Dubsky Editors and juniors Lanna Albright and Leah Albright discuss what the staff needs to accomplish during the class period and today. The editors helped keep the staff members on track and closer to meeting deadlines.
Photo contributed by Kari Johnson The Pirateer yearbook staff poses for a picture. The staff continued the tradition of making the December late night a holiday party with Secret Santa gifts.
Photo by Jackson Hamilton-Dubsky At the beginning of class, the staff gathers in a circle to listen to announcements from adviser Kari Johnson and editors Lanna Albright, Leah Albright and Natalie Shepherd. Junior Lexi Orozco, senior Minna Arthurs and sophomore Quentin Miller wait for their turn to share what their goals were for the day.
Pirateer staff members: Lanna Albright Leah Albright Minna Arthurs Ashlyn Basye Chloe Bramble Chandavian Bradley EmmaLyn Burnett Zoe Rodriguez Castro
Sheaffer Haines Quentin Miller KayLyn Munn Lexi Orozco Sam Ragone Ronette Reyes Katie Schwan Natalie Shepherd Sarah Znamenacek
06. Feature
LIFE LESSONS Program teaches both students, teachers about world around them
I
By Porter Schoen
n school, special education classes are something of a paradox. Everyone knows about them, but few understand what goes on in them. The program’s curriculum differs from other students’ schedules in that it focuses on preparing its students for their adult lives. “We’re working on the basic skills needed for independence,” special education teacher Kristen Webb said. “So in math we’re going to work a lot on money, we’re going to work on time, measurements. For life skills, we’re cleaning, we’re cooking and budgeting.” In order to teach life skills, teachers take their students out of the classroom for hands-on experiences. “We always go to the Farmer’s House,” Webb said. “It’s a little farm out in Weston, and there’s a farm and a store, so they work with our kids on different job skills. So they practice running the store or they have a cashier. They also work in catering, so they make dog treats, they make bath bombs, they make cupcakes, they make cookies, all sorts of stuff like that. They label, they inventory, they price, so they get to get a little more of those job skills in a different environment, not just here, because school is school and work is work.” Because every special education student functions at different levels, the curriculum they are taught must be flexible to meet their varying needs. “Kids are given a battery of assessments to discover their strengths and weaknesses, and then an individualized education plan is developed with goals that target their weak areas so they receive specialized instruction in those specific areas,” special education department chair Andrea Brooks said. Some teachers chose to go into special education because of their family. “I have a nephew who has cerebral palsy and autism, so when I was in high school I would tutor him once in a while, and I’ve known I wanted to teach since sixth grade,” Webb said. “I’ve kind of jumped around from English to PE to a variety of things, but after tutoring my nephew for a couple years, I decided that special ed. was the way I needed to go.” For Brooks, being a special education
student in high school was both her motivation to teach the program and the reason for her success. “I wanted to be a special education teacher because I’m dyslexic, so when I was in school I had an individual education plan; I was a special ed student,” Brooks said. “I almost didn’t go to college because I didn’t believe in myself because there’s a lot of stigma associated with special education. Luckily, I did go to college, and I was successful with it. I really wanted to become a special education teacher so I can instill that hope in my students. I literally understand what it feels like to be a special education student so I know when to push my students, I know when to help them, I know when to let them grapple with the material.” Like most teachers, special education teachers deal with large amounts of paperwork. “You know there’s going to be paperwork that the job entails, but you never really realize how much it is until you have your own classroom,” Webb said. “You can only be exposed to so much in college due to [student privacy concerns], so that part of it is something you don’t really expect. You know it’s coming, but you’re never fully prepared.” According to Brooks, special education students can be more susceptible to self-es-
teem issues than their peers. “It’s really hard when a student loses hope and motivation to get them back on track and get them to believe in themselves, especially by the time they reach high school,” Brooks said. “Some have had negative school experiences for eight years prior to coming here.” Senior peer helper Mikayle Gillilan found that aiding a special education class showed her another side of the program. “I like having a different perspective on special education because I never got that before, and I never really got to meet any of [the students],” Gillilan said. “They’re super smart. Everyone needs to know that.”
Photo by Porter Schoen Practicing their cooking skills, students Julian Welch and Drew Hendricks pour rice cereal into a measuring cup. The special education program gives students skills they may have difficulty developing otherwise.
Photo by Porter Schoen Posing around a Christmas-themed tart they made, Ryan Reeves, Noel Faria, peer helper Olivia DeGrave and Logan Kearns get ready for the holiday season. This particular project helped teach students to follow written instructions.
A December to Remember
07. December 2021
Various winter traditions celebrated by students, teachers
A
By Jackson Hamilton-Dubsky
wide variety of winter traditions are celebrated at Platte County High School. Christmas celebrations change based on the culture of the people participating in them. “When we celebrate Christmas in Mexico, it starts on the 24th [of December] and goes all the way through the night,” Spanish teacher Camy Hanks said. “You’re up until three or four o’clock in the morning dancing or singing songs. It’s really festive and very important,” Celebrations in the Dominican Republic are similar and just as festive as Mexican celebrations. “We do fireworks sometimes, and we have festivals,” senior Bernardo Martínez said. Some other cultural holidays fall before Christmas. “We do this thing, and it is kind of like an early Christmas; we call it Dia de Los Reyes,” Martínez said. “It takes place in the Dominican Republic. People like your uncle and other family just give you an early Christmas present.” Most families in Poland celebrate a holiday unique to their country. “We celebrate Santa Claus Day in Poland before Christmas,” senior Julia Rabenda said. “It starts Dec. 6 and Santa Claus is coming, and he is giving you presents, but he also comes on Christmas Eve.” Santa Claus Day, also called St. Nicholas Day, is widely popular on the eastern side of the world. Some families don’t celebrate Christmas due to religious or cultural reasons. “[My traditions] are kind of similar to the Chinese Lunar New Year which operates on our moon system,” junior Mohammad Alyasseri said. “We do celebrate New Year’s, and then we celebrate New Year’s a couple months after that, but we don’t have many traditions in the winter.” Other families start their Christmas traditions in the fall. “My family is a little crazy,” senior Sage Nordike said. “We decorate for Christmas way before a lot of families do. My mom put up our Christmas tree on Halloween this year.” For many, the special parts of the holi-
days are the get-togethers with family and friends. “We usually have about 20 or 30 [people]; most are family and some are friends,” junior Andrew Gjoni said. “I think it’s [special because of] the food that we eat; it is different. We eat authentic Albanian food like Burek.” Some traditions are on a smaller scale. “We have an advent calendar, which is a calendar to count down days until Christmas,” senior Nina Benzer said. “There are multiple different ones, and you can have candy or toys. You open one up everyday.” Some traditions represent religious imagery. “Through my religion and heritage, when you set up a nativity, you don’t put Jesus Christ there until after Christmas has passed,” Hanks said. All traditions are special to the families that keep them. “[These traditions are] something we’ve always done, and that is nice because it makes it special,” Benzer said.
Photo contributed by Camy Hanks Sitting by their Christmas tree, Spanish teacher Camy Hanks’ three children wear matching pajamas. Their tree was put up right after Thanksgiving to the dismay of her husband.
Photo contributed by Camy Hanks At Spanish teacher Camy Hanks' house, the nativity scene is displayed without Jesus in the manger. Hanks said she places Christ in the nativity scene after Christmas.
08. Feature
2021 Year in Review A summary of important events in 2021 By Ashlyn Basye
On Jan. 6, a large mob of people stormed the capitol while lawmakers were certifying votes to name Joe Biden as president. Former President Donald Trump was holding a rally near the capitol building to oppose the election results. His followers stormed the capital building in an attempt to stop Biden from being inaugurated as president, causing many injuries and five deaths. As of now the FBI is still investigating this matter and trying to catch the people who caused destruction and illegally entered the capitol building.
Photo by Getty Images
On April 11 Daunte Wright was shot and killed by a police officer at a traffic stop. The officer who shot him, Kim Potter, said she mistook her gun for her Taser. This incident caused daylong protests, especially in front of the Brooklyn Center Police Station with protesters holding signs saying, ‘Daunte had the Wright to live’ and ‘All lives don’t matter until Black lives matter.’ They held candlelight vigils and displayed countless things to remember Wright.
Feb. 7
Presidential rally turned Capitol assault
April 11
On July 20 Jeff Bezos flew into space on a rocket that was made by his company Blue Origin. It was their first flight with an all-civilian crew, including an 18 year old from the Netherlands and a 82-year-old aviation pioneer from Texas. This made them the youngest and oldest people to enter space. “Best day ever!” Bezos said after his 10-minute trip to space. On the flight were a few historical items: Amelia Earhart’s goggles and a piece of fabric from the first plane that the Wright brothers made in 1903.
June 25
Daunte Wright killed in police altercation
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers won their second Super Bowl on Feb. 7, beating the Chiefs with an unexpected blowout. Tom Brady, the Buccaneers quarterback, won his seventh Lombardi trophy at 43 years old. This also made Tampa the first team to win a Super Bowl in their home stadium. It was an upset for the Chiefs as they experienced their worst offensive performance of the season. They lost the game to Tampa by a final score of 31-9.
Photo by ABC News
Photo by Getty Images Photo by Getty Images
Photo by Getty Images
Derek Chauvin sentenced for the murder of George Floyd
Tampa Bay wins Super Bowl
Jan. 6
Photo by Getty Images
As the night went on, it turned from demonstration to confrontation with the police. Fires were set and fireworks were thrown, with police responding by throwing flashbangs and using other crowd control methods on the protesters. Potter resigned from the precinct on April 13, just two days after the shooting. She was charged with second-degree murder and then later first-degree manslaughter as well.
Photo by John Thew
July 20
First all-civilian flight to space On May 25, 2020, George Floyd was killed after being arrested and suffocated by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. A convenience store employee had called the police because of a supposed counterfeit $20 bill that Floyd had used to purchase a pack of cigarettes. Seventeen minutes after the police arrived, Floyd was unresponsive while being held down by multiple police officers. Most importantly, Officer Chauvin was pushing his knee into Floyd’s neck, choking him. The day after this incident, the four police officers involved were fired as protests advanced across the country. On May 29, Mike Freeman of the Hennepin County Attorney’s office filed third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter charges against Derek Chauvin. This was linked to video evidence of Chauvin holding his knee on Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes. On June 3, the Attorney’s office filed a more serious second-degree murder charge on Chauvin as well as filing aiding and abetting second-degree murder charges against the other three officers involved. On June 25, Derek Chauvin was sentenced to 22 years and 6 months in federal prison for the murder of George Floyd.
09. December 2021 For 13 years, Britney Spears has been under a conservatorship by her father Jamie Spears. He controlled every aspect of her life, including her money, her social life, and even the medications she took. She was put under conservatorship after a public mental breakdown that Graphic by Ashlyn Basye resulted in her being put into a psychiatric The 2020 United States census revealed hospital. For 13 years that for the first time ever, the white afterward, Britney would population went down 2.6%. It also unknowingly be closely revealed that the Hispanic and Asian watched by her father, populations rose by 23% and 36% who went so far as to respectively. have a listening device planted into her room and monitoring her text messages, as well as financially supporting her father. Britney alleged that she was forced to take medicaNew Abortion Laws in Texas
Aug. 12
Sept. 1
U.S Census race results The most restrictive abortion law in the U.S came to fruition in Texas on September 1st, stating that once there is a heartbeat in the fetus, you cannot abort. This means that if a woman is anything past 6 weeks pregnant, no matter the circumstances, that option is off the table. Many people in Texas, and all over the U.S, are outraged. This law makes no exception for rape, incest, or sexual abuse. The law was proposed by Brian Hughes, a Texas senator. While the law intended to completely put an end to abortions in texas after 7 weeks, what we saw was Texans leaving their state to get abortions legally in other states. For example, one site in Tennessee has seen double the amount of cases from texas since the law was put into effect. This proves that although you can ban abortions, it doesn’t mean they’re going to stop happening. Another way abortions are becoming scary for Texans is that it makes citizens able to sue people if they suspect they got an abortion.
tion that left her feeling Red (Taylor’s version) is the remake drunk, and even had to of the album that Swift released in keep her birth control 2012. While she did write the album implant even though she herself, she was under management continually expressed that didn’t give her the rights to the to her father that she music or masters she made. When she wanted more children. finally moved to new management and After the public reacted was able to get some of the rights to negatively to Britney’s her music back, she began rerecordconservatorship, she ing her albums. The most recent one, was able to have a Red, featured a 10-minute version of hearing with the court. her popular song “All Too Well.” Swift And while it wasn’t also released a short film to the song removed completely, she featuring Sadie Sink and Dylan O’Brien, was able to assign her the video reaching 50 million views, and conservatorship to her still counting. mother, believing she wanted Britney to have more autonomy when it came to her finances. She released a public statement on Instagram that she was finally free and thanked all of her Photo by Getty Images supporters for helping get her this far. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees
Oct. 30
Sept. 29
Nov. 12
Red (Taylor’s Version)
Free Britney!
Official Poster Photo by Getty Images The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted 13 new artists. The inductees were the Foo Fighters; The Go-Gos; Tina Turner; Carol King; Jay-Z; Todd Rundgren; Kraftwerk; Charlie Patton; Gil Scott-Heron; LL Cool J; Billy Preston; and Randy Rhodes. Photo by Getty Images
Photo by Getty Images
Photo by Getty Images
10. Opinion
To Post or Not to Post
What is acceptable to share on social media?
I
By Jack Scattini
n recent months, PCHS has seen a slew of Instagram accounts created. This is following a recent trend across the country of high school students creating accounts where they post content usually associated with the school. While some accounts, such as one that features students’ bad parking jobs, can be fun, some have severe consequences for those featured. Problems arise when students featured by these accounts suffer backlash from their peers. Anyone can make a social media account. There is no way of stopping someone from taking a picture of another student in school and saying whatever they want about them online. The school cannot stop this from happening unless they get law enforcement involved which has permissions that surpass the privacy policies of many social media platforms. These agencies can help the administration get to the bottom of who is running an account, should the content they post reflect negatively on the school or cause distress to students. With all this taken into account, I think there should be a line drawn on what these accounts can and should do. Having student-run accounts is a fantastic way to have a better school community, as long as what they post is doing no harm to anyone. However, when it comes to taking pictures of actual students without their permission, they should hold back, especially with some accounts taking pictures of people in the bathroom or posting in a manner that seems like they are making fun of someone. There have even been instances of students being hurt because someone posted about them on a social media account, accusing them of something they may or may not have done. Regardless of how true information posted online is, there are other ways to handle issues. If you have a problem with someone or
something, the last thing you should do is post about it behind the safety of a screen. If there is something you feel needs to be addressed, then talk directly to the person you have a problem with. If that is not possible, you can go to the administration, and they will use their resources to help you. Some people feel invincible under the anonymous shroud that is the internet, but your actions online can come with repercussions. You may be able to post anything you want, but not all speech is protected; hate speech, fighting words and direct threats can all land you in trouble for posting. Should you be defaming someone online, they can choose to take legal action against you, should it cause them distress and affect them in real life. Overall, these student-run accounts can be very funny and entertaining and a great way to have community in the school, but the account administrators should be transparent with who runs the accounts, and the type of content they post should be limited. If this doesn’t happen, then we end up having tons of third-party accounts possibly altering the public image of our school. Accounts based around posting students without their permission should be regulated. If you do not know somebody, you should always ask before posting them on social media.
Photo by Jack Scattini Every fall, upperclassmen anticipate the start of Assassin. This tag-style game is fully run and controlled by students without administration involvement.
Photo by Jack Scattini Some accounts have taken different approaches to the trend. This particular account posts dinosaur content with no real connection to anything school-related..
Photo by Jack Scattini One of the accounts documents shoes worn around the school. This account was also created at the height of the school-related Instagram page trend.
11. December 2021
To the Republic for Which it Stands Students should not have to stand for pledge of allegiance
T
By Nevaeh Martin
he pledge is recited every morning before first hour. Most students stand, but some remain seated or continue walking through the
hallways. Some staff members do not agree with this. They feel the need to tell students to stand up or stop walking and face the flag. They aren’t taking students' feelings or beliefs about the pledge into account. Standing for the pledge should be a personal choice, even though some staff members feel otherwise. We should be able to decide if we want to stand or not. Officially, there is no rule requiring students to stand for the pledge, yet students are continuously being stopped in the hallway to put their hands over their hearts. The school thinks they can make students do something they don’t want to do,
which is not fair at all. Especially since there is no rule stating they have to stand or even stop for the pledge. Staff and administrators are not allowed to tell students that they have to stand, but some do anyway and think that it is fine when it's not. If the teachers have a problem with this, they should keep it to themselves. The teachers who feel this way need set their opinions aside; they need to respect others' opinions as well. The pledge is about promising loyalty to your country, which some people just don’t want to do, for a variety of reasons. Events like the Black Lives Matter protests have brought into question the phrase, “...with liberty and justice for all,” because many Americans say there has not been justice for all groups in the United States. Some students feel our country is in
a state of injustice, so why stand for the pledge if you don't support it? The flag represents freedom. Some staff members forcing students to stand takes away that freedom. Everything comes down to respect. If we as students have to respect staff, then the staff should respect us and our decisions, provided they don’t break school policy. We have had many conflicts related to this problem, and I want to bring attention to one of these conflicts and help make a change. Students come to school to learn and get an education, not to be judged or forced to stand for the pledge. Teachers and administration need to stop telling students they have to stand or stop for the pledge. Everyone is entitled to express their opinions about the U.S., and that includes not standing for the pledge.
12. Opinion
Don’t Just Say No Drug problem at school requires different approach
O
By the Clipper staff
f all the problems in our school, grams. some seem harder to tackle than Education doesn’t mean a DARE-style others. One issue in particular scared straight program. Actual, honest lesstands out as something that sons about the harms of various drugs are multiple administrations, both past and more impactful and based on facts rather present, have grappled with but failed than fear. Fearmongering does nothing to to conquer for various reasons. This, of stop drug use; frequently, it has the opposite course, is our school’s battle with drugs. effect. According to the National Center for There’s evidence that drug education Drug Abuse Statistics, around 7.5% of programs reduce illicit substance use and teens in Missouri reported using some sort abuse among teens, which is something that of illegal drug. Approximately 77% of teens many students want. reported using marijuana. About 10% of According to the American Addiction teens from the group reported using alcoCenters in 2019, approximately 37% of hol. A fraction of a percent reported using women and 35% of men surveyed felt methamphetamines, heroin, or cocaine. that learning about the possible dangers of It should be noted that these statistics substance abuse would have best discourare probably much lower than the actuaged them from using drugs. Interestingly, al numbers because most teenagers are 14% felt that being taught about the science reluctant to admit to buying and consuming of addiction would have discouraged them illegal substances. from using drugs. While these numbers seem small, our There is also proof that these programs staff can attest to the fact that it does are effective. According to Australian nonhappen frequently in school. Several Clipper profit Positive Choices, several programs staff members have witnessed students that focused on the harms and effects vaping or smoking in school. Some have of drugs have been effective in reducing seen their peers handing out prescription students’ drug use in high school. Unlike medication. DARE, which tended to rely on personal Our school has taken a hard-line stance testimony and exaggerated accounts, these on drug use, threatening to suspend or tried and tested programs work facts and expel students who are caught with illegal research-based conclusions into students’ substances. Apparscience curriculums. ently, this approach Not only would “Fearmongering does is ineffective, because this be more effecnothing to stop drug use; tive than the current students use drugs in bathrooms where it approach, it would frequently, it has the is difficult to monitor also make drugs safer opposite effect.” them. for students who are The best approach already using them. to policing drugs in school is not through Students using drugs may not know the punitive measures such as suspension or amount they can take safely, which could expulsion (although those should be kept in lead to overdoses. Drug education solves place), but through the addition of preventhis problem by teaching them what amount tative ones. One of the best ways to prevent of a given drug causes an overdose. drug use is through education-based pro-
Recognizing Signs of Drug Addiction in Yourself - Feeling the urge to use a drug regularly - Having to increase dosage to get the same effect - Maintaining a large supply - Spending excessive amounts of money - Continuing to use the drug - Not meeting obligations - Partaking in risky activities while under the influence - Failing in attempts to stop using the drug
in Others
- Unexplained or suspicious absences from school or work - Lack of interest in appearance - Sudden and repeated requests for money without a reasonable explanation Information provided by the Mayo Clinic
Some students may not be aware of the Many students who choose to use drugs long-term physical and mental effects posed turn to them because of poor mental health by joints, vape pens, or cigarettes. Factor a turbulent family life. While both of based drug education could rectify that issue these are valuable tools in the fight against and encourage them to get help for their our school’s drug problems, they clearly addiction. need some backup. Many parents and Another issue students may reject with these is that “Ultimately, it’s on the the idea of fact-based they can be overdrug education. A huge school board to change our looked by those myth that stems from curriculum, something they wishing to remain programs like D.A.R.E. in the dark. For may be reluctant to do.” is that proper educamost students, a tion on drugs will only well-structured unit convince students to try them. However, on the effects of drugs and alcohol in their there is no evidence for this idea. In reality, biology class would be harder to ignore. it’s nothing more than a legend. Ultimately, it’s on the school board to It should be noted that there are already change our curriculum, something they may programs in the community that discourage be reluctant to do. The fact of the matter is students from using illicit substances. For that in order to address this issue they must example, Students Against Destructive Defirst acknowledge that it exists, and then get cisions (SADD), was an in-school club that community members to see that it exists as discouraged students from using drugs and well. alcohol by leading campaigns and putting In spite of this difficulty, we would highup posters around the school. ly encourage them to take a look at some However, SADD’s sponsor retired, and of the fact-based drug education programs no long-term replacement has stepped up out there. If this were to be implemented, to fill the gap, rendering the organization it would make our district stand out as a toothless. leader in the fight against teen drug use. Other local organizations, like Tri-County Mental Health Services, address the primary causes of drug use and addiction.
Information provided by the World Health Organization
13. December 2021
How to Get Help Anonymous, consequence-free ways to start on the path to recovery
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA) Helpline: 1-800-662-4375
- Tri-County Mental Health Services Crisis Line: 1-888-279-8188
- Crisis Textline Hotline: 741741
Graphic by Porter Schoen
14. Sports
One Shot at a Time Archery team prepares for current season By Nevaeh Martin
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his year, the archery team is preparing for another busy season. Many archery team members have been enjoying the early part of the season so far. “The practices have been great; we got to shoot pumpkins for Thanksgiving,” junior Abigail Wittel said. Wittel has been doing archery for seven years. “One day they advertised it, and it just looked fun,” Wittel said. “I tried it and just kept doing it.” The archery team qualified for nationals last year and have that as a goal for this year. COVID-19 restrictions complicated archery competitions and continue to do so. “It was really frustrating with the mask and everything, since part of your aiming involves touching your face,” Wittel said. “The masks just really messed that up, and you also couldn’t stand by people when you shot. We had to stand by ourselves, which was kinda lonely.”
Despite these complications, the team persevered through the pandemic and hope to do so again this year. “There were a lot of delays last year during the archery season dealing with COVID, but we still made it work and got to go to nationals,” sophomore Avery Scott said. Expectations are high for the upcoming season. “I do think we will go to state again,” Scott said. “We always do.” Coaches make practices more interesting by changing the targets that their team members attempt to hit. “The practices have been good,” Scott said. “We shoot targets most of the time, and our coach makes it fun by letting us shoot different things like balloons.” In order to involve both students and their families, the archery team sometimes attends family tournaments, in which a team member partners with an adult, usually one of their parents. The highest combined
score wins the challenge. “It’s really for our younger kiddos, just so they can practice shooting and build up their confidence,” coach Dana Stephenson said. “Plus, the family members get to realize how hard this sport really is.”
Photo by Nevaeh Martin Posing for a photo, sophomore Avery Scott, junior Jonathan Oliver and sophomore Antonia DeBiaso pose after firing their arrows at archery practice. The archery team held practices on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Photo by Nevaeh Martin Sophomores Anna Bundy and Chloe Borgmeyer draw their bows at one of the season’s first practices. The archery team practiced in the Paxton Gym after school twice a week.
Photo by Nevaeh Martin Archers retrieve their arrows and record their scores at practice. For safety reasons, all archers shot their arrows at the same time and then retrieved them together as well.
Cheer Without Fear
15. December 2021
Cheerleaders reflect on hard work to prepare for competition season
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By Sage Nordike rom practicing for competitions about 12 hours a week to school work to jobs, cheer takes up a lot of time for some cheerleaders. “I feel like not only do we do competition cheer, but we also do a lot of things in the community, and it’s really hard to do all of that and schoolwork, plus I have a job so it’s hard to add all that in,” senior Ashlyn Callahan said. With the cheerleaders working to keep up with their good grades and schoolwork, cheer makes their schedules very busy. “Schoolwork can get really heavy, and you try to devote all the time you can to cheer, as well as homework, friends and family,” junior Rae Antone said. The coaches try their best to keep their team intact and prepare them as best as they can for regionals. “We practice frequently, also a lot of conditioning, so doing the routine repetitively, to make sure their endurance is up and ready to go,” head coach Gail Martin said. “I feel like the time frame we have had was good. We had the routine ready to go in the summer, so we started working on stunts early, and that was a good way to get ahead.” With the team knowing regionals were approaching, some cheerleaders stressed
about problems that may arise. “Mainly just like being under pressure and making sure nobody messes up,” sophomore Kylie Crews said. Some cheerleaders are stressed about being under pressure at competition. “I’m most stressed out about forgetting what comes next in the routine, so that’s why we need to do mark throughs before we actually perform,” senior Annabella Diaz said. While some cheerleaders may be stressed for competition, others look at the bright side of competition. “I’m most excited to just be there at that moment,” freshman Ariana Covarrubias said. Other cheerleaders are excited about competition and are ready to be out in front of the crowd to feel all the energy surrounding them while they yell with them. “I think what I am most excited for is also competing in front of the crowd, since last year we didn’t have the crowd to hype us up as we are performing since we were competing virtually,” Antone said. With all their stress and excitement waiting for competition day to arrive, people are also waiting for what place they will earn at regionals “I feel like we could at least do better
than one team, if we all do our best,” Diaz said. With some cheerleaders having doubts about what place they will get, others try to keep their heads up and hope for the best. “Everyone says we get last every time so I’m trying to expect the worst and hope for the best,” Crews said. As some of the team members’ opinions differ from others about what place they will get, the coaches this year have decided to let both junior varsity and varsity compete. “The talent on JV is really, really high, plus our numbers were high this year so we were able to have them tryout for the competition team,” Martin said. “It’s a little more work, and it’s on two different days so it’s been a little bit challenging, but it’s been a good ride, and I’m glad that we did it.” Martin said the cheerleaders constantly push each other to improve. “We have a lot of ability to try new things. Lack of fear, competitive edge, and the girls push each other,” Martin said. “If somebody is doing a better stunt than one group, they want to push each other to be able to do it too. I think the ability to push inside the team is what gets the team where they need to be.”
Photo by Ashlyn Basye Senior Annabella Diaz smiles at the packed student section on Step-off Night. Although the Pirates lost the game, the cheerleaders continued to support them.
Photo by Ashlyn Basye Junior Jaiden Webb stands, watching the football team play against Smithville on Step-off Night. The Warriors beat the Pirates with a score of 20-10.
Photo by Ashlyn Basye Senior Ashlyn Callahan cheers on the Pirates at the annual Black Out Game against Lansing. The Pirates won the game 39-3.
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